


New Beginnings

by Tarvok



Series: Time Will Tell [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Chronic Illness, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Crossdressing, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2019-11-28 11:23:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18207650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarvok/pseuds/Tarvok
Summary: Jay tries to make a new life for himself and his husband in Sanctuary Hills.This is part of a series detailing the life of my own Sole Survivor. Includes links to videos for his character design and any story-specific settings.Takes place after the ending of the main questline, and after the destruction of the Institute by the BOS.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You may want to check out this very short video to see what he looks like! Just give it a pause when he pops up. I'm making several videos to go along with this.
> 
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p4EuT3gsA48

It was a cool day in Autumn, year 2289. The settlers of Sanctuary Hills were busy tending to the harvest, as well as gathering fresh water for the week.

John Hancock was sitting, cross-legged on the cold concrete in front of one of the houses that served as shelter for the current resident settlers. He was watching his beloved husband, Jade Abe, or as the settlers knew him, Jay Little River, as he worked on one of his many hands-on projects.

Today, he happened to be fiddling with Power Armor.

"How long are you gonna be this time? It's almost lunch, Babe," Hancock asked, picking at a piece of crumbling concrete to his right. It came apart in his fingers.

"Not long to go now. I just need to get the hydraulics in this leg working, and I'll be done for the day." Jay wiped at his brow, leaving a little oil smudge behind on his forehead. Hancock longed to reach over and smudge it some more.

"All right. Just don't overdo it, okay?" The Ghoul got up and dusted himself off. "You have to be ready to meet with the caravan in a couple days."

"I know. I just wish I could still fix up one of these as quickly as I used to," Jay frowned as he twisted his knee a bit when he went to stand. He looked down in annoyance. "Guess I _will_ have to finish this tomorrow, huh?"

"You don't really have to finish it at all."

Jay sighed, "I know that, too." One of the ubiquitous Brotherhood of Steel soldiers would be by in a few days to take it off his hands. Whether it was pristine and functional by then didn't matter. Proctor Ingram would ultimately have her way with the suit, no matter what he did with it. She'd complain that his modifications weren't "up to spec," but she'd leave some of them in place, regardless.

"Come on," Hancock said. "I hear there's some good radstag steak for the BBQ."

"Any vedge?" Jay held out his left arm toward his husband.

"Yeah. Somebody dug up those weird starchy things you planted," Hancock stepped in close and offered his shoulder for him to lean on.

"The yuca?"

"Yeah, that," Hancock helped Jay make his way across the walkway between the houses and into a chair under the shade of the nearby oak. "I can't believe there used to be so many different kinds of food you could grow. That's nuts." He handed him a bottle of water, and Jay gratefully drank from it. "How'd you ever remember all the names?"

Jay shrugged. "It helped that they all looked different."

After a moment of silence, Hancock smiled to himself. "I'll go get us some grub."

"Okay," Jay said, and watched him go.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This video is a cute little segment of them chatting at the Red Rocket just outside of Sanctuary so you can see what Hancock's wearing for this chapter, as well as one of Jay's armors (he's usually wearing the outfit from the first chapter's video or something else under his Power Armor). The armor featured here is the one he uses to hide his face from time to time due to symptoms while on the road.
> 
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NOFnaU0dA5E
> 
> Happy Reading!

It wasn't long before the combined force of the shade and all the work on the suit Jay had been doing that morning, started to weigh on him. He closed his eyes. Leaning back in that rickety chair was always taking a chance, but he was just so tired all of the sudden.

It had been that way ever since Vault 81. Some days, like today, weren't too bad. He'd be able to work on something, maybe even teach a class. Other days, he'd be bed-bound and would have to sleep. Sometimes he'd write things down that Preston would then pass around to everyone who could read, in lieu of classes.

Jay listened to the soft breeze rustling the leaves overhead. A child was crying about something. He heard a cough in the distance, followed by another one a bit farther off. It seemed to be approaching that time of year again, where the mutated viruses would start kicking up. He sighed. He'd have to hold off on hosting any classes for a while if he wanted to keep from catching something devastating.

There was a soft _swish swish swish_ of feet to his right. He opened his eyes to see Hancock standing there, two steaming plates in his hands. He reached over for one as the Ghoul sat down.

"Worn out, huh?" John asked from his perch in the tall grass.

"Yeah, and it sounds like I'm gonna need to lay low for a while." He gestured to the settlers meandering nearby, and sighed. Hancock took a fork out of the pocket of his tan trench coat and handed it to him while he dug into his own lunch.

"You want me to meet with the caravan instead? You know I'm good for it," John asked, waving his fork around for emphasis.

"Would you? It would probably be best."

"You know it," John said. Then, after a pause to collect his thoughts, "Hey. So... if you're up to it, do you want me to send for the minister?"

He and John were already in this for the long haul. They'd been married for a little under six months now. Hardly anyone went to a minister for that anymore, but John had wanted to "do it right," he'd said, after their own private ceremony above Vault 111 where they exchanged some rings they'd found in the safe of an abandoned jeweler's basement.

"You know it doesn't matter to me whether we do that or not. I'm always gonna love you, John. No clergyman is gonna make that more true," Jay smiled as he gingerly blew on his food to cool it.

John scratched at the back of his head, "Yeah, yeah, I know that. I know you aren't inta them 'religious displays.' But I want everybody to know you're mine. I want that reporter to put it in her paper. 'Sole Survivor of Vault 111 and Destroyer of the Institute Marries Former Mayor of Goodneighbor John Hancock.' Has a nice ring to it, yeah?" He waggled his brow. "And she better put that I'm a Ghoul in there, too, just in case folks don't know of your 'proclivities'."

Jay rolled his eyes. It was hardly a secret that he was into Ghouls. He'd had that conversation with Danse more times than he liked. It was one of several reasons they weren't together anymore. When Jay had developed feelings for the Mayor of Goodneighbor while he and John had traveled together, he knew he had to tell the former Paladin they'd need to break it off. It still hurt. But he knew Danse would never be comfortable with John around.

Somedays he sure did miss Danse's strength, though. It made his own new limitations less of a liability on the road, even if having him around meant they'd needed to actively avoid any BOS supply outposts.

"If you have your heart set on it, I'm all for it," Jay shrugged. "Besides, it's not general religious stuff. It's just that mindless hope they try to sell people. You know I'm still spiritual. And I want to see the look on Preston's face when he sees me in my wedding dress."

They both laughed for a good couple of minutes.

John wiped at his eyes. "So you're still working on that?"

"Mhmm," Jay nodded. "I'm waiting on the next shipment of foil from the caravan to make some more sequins. I wanted to be the Blinding Star of Goodneighbor, but I'll take what I can get," he grinned.

"Hey, we can still do that! When Spring gets here, we'll wrap it up and stuff it in a crate, and ship it back there. No need for that fancy X-02 of yours to tear up all your hard work on the way. Then we'll have a huge bash. I'll make Fahr pay for it. It'll be her Mayoral honor. Haha!"

Jay only shook his head, a grin plastered to his face. John's humor was just one thing he loved so much about him.

 


End file.
